It's the Apocalypse, Sam and Dean Winchester
by SassyPrincess14
Summary: The apocalypse has happened. Sam and Dean didn't even have warning of it this time. Dead people have come back and they have begun eating people. Since the first bite, Angels and Demons have both been MIA. Is this case too big for the Winchesters? Will everything change once they meet a girl who loves pie, whisky, and cars? Has Dean met his match? Dean/OC/Shane. T for language.
1. Chapter 1

She stretched before she stood from her sleeping bag on the ground. She rolled up the bag, unzipped the tent on the right and walked into it. The dark haired man's sleeping form came to life as soon as her foot touched the ground within the tent. "Lila?" he questioned.

"Sh, Ryan go back to sleep, I'm going on a hunt," she changed into a pair of black leggings, her combat boots, and thin black tank top. She then grabbed her leather jacket—despite the Georgia heat, it was much safer. She grabbed her bow and arrows—after pulling her dark hair into a bun first. Right as she left her tent, a familiar face exited the other tent. She gave Daryl a curt nod as they both headed towards the woods together. They walked in silence the entire way to the tree line.

"Ya still sleepin' outside?" he questioned quietly.

"Mm," she replied. "Ryan stinks up the tent." Daryl refrained from cracking a smile as the made their way silently into the woods. Most of their hunt was silent, the two wordlessly worked together to bring food back for the group.

Voices echoed through the woods and Lila turned to Daryl. He places his finger to his lips as they moved towards the voices.

"Son of bitch," one voice cursed as the sickeningly familiar sound of a knife going into a walker's head could be heard. Slowly, Lila moved into view first. She grabbed her gun—she always had her bow, a gun, and a knife on her—and aimed it on the one who had just called out 'Son of a bitch'. Another man came into view. He was taller than the first with longer hair.

"Put your weapons down," she commanded. His green eyes met hers briefly and he didn't move.

"We don't need trouble hear," the tall one said. "Dean put your gun down."

The way Dean held his gun reminded Lila of a cop. His stance and the way his eyes never left her. Slowly, Daryl made his way out of hiding, his crossbow focused on the taller of the two.

"Okay," Dean gave in, putting his gun back in the waistband of his jeans. "Your turn," he said, his eyes challenging Lila.

She brought her gun to her side and Daryl lowered his crossbow. "Who the fuck are you?" she questioned the two of them.

"I'm Sam Winchester and this is my brother Dean," the tall one stated. "And you are?" he had sensitive and caring eyes. He seemed much more approachable than Dean. But, Lila also realised neither she nor Daryl were approachable either.

"Lila Bennett. That's Daryl Dixon," she pursed her lips, sizing the two up. "What the hell are you doing out here scaring off all the game?"

"Walking," Dean stated. "Trying to find some freaking water and then these dead sons of bitches kind of attacked us."

"You don't say?" Lila put her hands on her hips. "That's kind of what they do."

"I gathered that," Dean and Lila continued to glare at each other before Sam stepped in.

"Is there anyway you guys have some water you could spare. We've been out here a while and our car ran out of gas." Lila looked to Daryl, who just shrugged.

"Are you going to play nice?" her question was directed at Dean as she sent him an icy glare.

"He will be on his very best behaviour," Sam promised.

"I want to hear it from him."

"I'll behave," Dean stated.

"Follow me," Daryl stated. Sam took point with Daryl and Lila and Dean brought up the rear. This way nobody could really pull a good sneak attack on anyone.

"There's no chance you've got some freaking cheeseburgers, is there?" Dean asked and Lila had to catch herself before she started laughing.

"Nope. Unless you want a squirrel burger," she stated.

"Squirrel? Like fluffy tail? Like road kill?" he questioned. Again, she had to refrain from laughing.

"More like shot in the head," she held up the little critter and he looked at it surprised.

"Dammit," he cursed. Sam looked back at his brother, making sure that he was behaving as promised.

"Daryl, you think Shane's going to mind us bringing back other people?" Lila found herself asking.

"Don' care," he shrugged. "Asshole cop," he murmured under his breath. It was kind of a given that Daryl and Merle wouldn't get along with Shane, Lila found that he didn't do too bad for the group. Sometimes she or Ryan had to be the voice of reason when it came to Merle though.

"I meant to ask, were you a cop before this?" Lila looked at Dean. "The way you held your gun made me think you were."

Dean weighed his options. He could either lie and say that he was with the FBI, but some of his other tendencies would eventually give away that wasn't the truth. "No, I'm just an experienced hunter," he said.

"You shoot Bambi like that?" she questioned.

"Something like that," he said, his gaze far off.

They arrived back at the camp a short while later and introduced Sam and Dean to Shane and decided to let him take care of the rest. Daryl and Lila headed back out into the woods to find the food for the day. When they came back, Ryan and Merle were sitting outside their tents and Lila dropped a pile of squirrels into Merle's lap.

"Th'hell ya doin'?" he asked.

"Make yourself useful," she stated.

"'S yer turn ta get water from th'quarry ta clean our arrows," Daryl stated, sitting on the third of three logs around their fire.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," she said. "Let me grab a bucket," she took off her leather jacket and put it inside the tent before grabbing the bucket and heading down the the water. When she got there, she saw Dean sitting on the ground. "Just got here and already slacking," she stated, bending down to fill up the bucket.

"Sammy's setting up our tent," he said.

"So you're down here tanning?" she looked at him, smirking.

"Actually he told me to leave."

"I should've known. Pretty boys are useless outdoors anyway," she scoffed.

Dean's ego quickly bruised. The girl before him was certainly something. She had dark blue eyes and long dark brown hair. She had a curvy form that was very easy on the eyes. She was the hottest girl he'd seen since the apocalypse, that was for sure.

"I can do other things, just not set up tents."

"That's cute," she finished filling her bucket and carried it back up to camp. She set it down next to Daryl on the log and she joined him in cleaning their arrows.

Dean came back up to camp soon after and found his eyes focused on the smaller camp off to the side where Lila, Daryl, and two other men were. He debated for a moment, he shouldn't feel like he had something to prove, but he did. He walked over there quickly, taking long strides to the camp and Lila looked up at him at small smile forming on her lips.

"Can I help you with something, Winchester?"

"Need help with the squirrels?" he asked.

"We got it," another man spoke up. His hair was cut short as he sliced into one of the small creatures.

"Wait, who are you?" the other man looked at Dean before standing. His dark hair was the same hue as Lila's, his eyes as well. He looked to be quite a few years older though.

"Dean Winchester."

"When the hell did we start letting new people in?" Ryan questioned. "I'm just kidding with you. I'm Ryan. I guess you've already met my sister and Daryl. And that's Merle." Ryan had always been the most civil of the four. He and Merle had been in the army together and after they came back, Ryan and Lila moved from their small town in Ohio to the back woods of Georgia. Ryan had been the only family Lila had left at the time and she saw no point in sticking around Ohio. "You know how to skin one of these?"

"I think so," Dean said.

"Lila, how 'bout you give the new guy an example," Ryan eyed his sister carefully. He worried for her sometime, she had never really liked people but he knew she couldn't spend her whole life with just the Dixon brothers. He would say that Lila had an innate sense to help everyone around her, even if she hated their guts.

Lila sighed and stood from her place on the log. "Okay look here, Pretty Boy," she grabbed a squirrel from Merle and started showing him how to skin it. She gave Dean a small grin to show that she was just kidding with him, but she had a feeling that he missed it.

XxX

The next day, Ryan went with Daryl to hunt rather than Lila. She walked into the main camp and found Sam sitting on the log by the main fire, eating some breakfast. After a long lecture from Ryan, she realised she may have been kind of a bitch to the two brothers. Before she could take a seat next to Sam, Dean sat there and she walked over to them.

"Look, I'm kind of a hot head and I can be an ass sometimes. I'm also kind of judgemental—let's just go with I have tons of negative flaws. I'm sorry for yesterday. I don't trust easy and honestly, I didn't want to bring the two of you back here."

"Trust issues, that's something we're very familiar with," Sam said. "It's okay, actually, it's probably safer to not simply trust anyone you run into. And Dean understands about being a hot head."

Sam reminded her of Ryan. Always calm and level headed. She tended to act first and think later. "Well, you guys will have to help out the camp in one way or another, you can help me—trust me it's better than laundry duty."

"We'd be happy to," Sam said. Dean continued to watch her carefully.

"Great. And Dean," he looked at her. He had yet to speak a word. "You've gotta be more than just a pretty face to last this long," she smirked.

"I am more than eye candy," he smirked. She just rolled her eyes, grinning.

"You did say you were hunters right?" They both paused for a moment. But she spoke before they could say anything, "Guns are really loud and Ryan and I strictly use bow and arrow. We're always short on arrows and we need to make as many as we can." Wordlessly, they followed her to her side of camp. She gave them a quick demo before they picked it up quite quickly. "I'll be right back," she said, seeing Shane standing by the RV, watching her. She walked over to him and placed her hands on her hips. "What?"

"Teachin' 'em ta make arrows?" he questioned. She nodded. "Probably smart. Surprised you ain't out huntin'."

"Ryan and Daryl have it under control," she shrugged. Shane's brown eyes caught her blue ones for a minute.

"You takin' watch with me t'night then?"  
>"Yeah, I don't sleep much anyway..." she shrugged. Their relationship was a hard one to describe. In the beginning, they had ended up talking a lot because neither of them could ever sleep and would end up watching from atop the RV. But it was never anything romantic, they just talked and watched out for the camp.<p>

"Yer always welcome up there, Lila."

"I know. I just find it easier to lay on the ground and be with my thoughts." He nodded. "I'm going to make sure they're doing okay with that." Before she could get back to her side of camp, Dale walked out of the RV and stopped to talk to her.

"So what do you think of our new members?" he asked. Whether she wanted it to or not, her opinion mattered. None of them would forget how big of a role she played in putting the camp together.

_"Dammit, Ryan," she stated. "Listen to me, we've gotta help get these people away from the city," she told her brother as they stood by the old pickup truck. _

_"We ain't gotta do shit fer them," Merle said. _

_"They're human beings," she said. _

_"Look, Li, you have to have faith in the army. Whatever they did was to help us. They wouldn't just kill innocent people if it wasn't part of a bigger plan," Ryan tried to reason._

_"Bullshit," she climbed up on the tailgate of the truck and made her voice as loud as she could. "Everybody," she called. "We need to get away from the city. I don't know exactly what's going on, but we need to get some place safer!" she called. "Spread the word!" she then got in the driver seat of the truck. Merle said something about her being a 'crazy bitch' before they all piled into the truck. She drove the vehicle off the side of the highway and into the grass. She was thankful for four-wheel drive at that moment. She made the drive far away from the city and to the quarry. She noticed a whole trail of others following her. _

_Upon their arrival to the quarry, they realised they needed to set up camp until help could come for her. _

"I think they'll be helpful," she said. "There's probably more to them than they're letting on. But then again, who around here doesn't have a secret," she shrugged. "I'm going to check in on them."

"Okay. You don't think they're a danger to us?"

"No. If they were going to hurt someone, they would've done it already," she walked over to the camp and found that they both excelled at making arrows. "Awesome. Finally someone useful," she said. "So honestly, what did you guys do before this?" she found herself asking. "Not a cop, but something where you had a fire arm..." she waited for a response, but didn't get one for a minute.

"Park rangers," Sam offered.

"Bullshit. Park rangers wouldn't have been so loud in the woods yesterday."

"I guess you'll just have to figure it out," Dean said, offering her a grin.

"Okay, Winchesters, I will solve your mystery," she said grinning.

**AN: well the first upload failed. Thank you Lady (guest) for pointing that out! Please let me know what you thought. NO FLAMES. **


	2. Chapter 2

Lila sat on the banks of the quarry and the took a long inhale of the cigarette between her first and middle fingers. She held the smoke for a moment and then exhaled, letting the smoke fly up into the air. Sometimes, she wished that she was like the smoke, that she could be free and in the air.

"Cancer kills," she turned to see Dean making his way to her. She just took another long inhale and blew out more smoke.

"So do dead people," she shrugged.

"Touché."

"Can't sleep?"

"Never can," he shrugged. "You?"

"Nightmares."

"Suck, don't they?" Dean blurted out.

"Mm," she smoked the cigarette nearly to the but and when it wasn't much more than just the end, she squished it out. "So what are yours about?" Dean didn't know how to reply. If he was honest. So instead, he didn't say anything. "I won't be able to solve your mystery if we don't talk."

"It was about loosing my brother," Dean said. She nodded slowly and watched him.

"Y'know, you're one of two people to know I have cigarettes still. If Merle knew, he would flip his shit and they'd all be gone in a day," she stated, changing the subject because she realised Dean didn't want to talk much about it.

That day, a group had left for Atlanta, and returned―without Merle in the group, only to return with a new guy named Rick. He turned out to be Lori's husband. Daryl and Ryan had been hunting at the time―and still were so Lila felt completely alone, explaining why she needed her cigarettes, which she only saved for emergencies. "That was...if he was here," she added bitterly. Despite everything Merle Dixon was, he was practically part of her family.

Dean spared her the pity for her loss. She didn't need those, she was grown up enough and she deserved better than the false pity. "How're Daryl and Ryan going to take it?"

"Not too good, I can promise you that. Tomorrow's going to be a shit storm." She then pulled a silver flask out of where Dean believed to be nowhere. She took a long pull and then held it out to him. He rose an eyebrow. He wasn't sure what was in it, but he prayed for whisky. He took a drink and felt the familiarity and relief wash over him. Whisky. "Sorry I don't have any piña coladas," she said dryly, he smiled a little.

"It's alright," Dean stated. "I think I'll survive."

"I don't have much left...But I was saving it for a rainy day...Today seemed good enough."

"Now we just need some music," he stated.

"Mm, I'd kill to hear some AC/DC right now," she took another drink.

"My car has AC/DC," for a brief moment, she considered it but then she shook her head.

"It'll be too loud. You could sing it instead," she joked. He just grinned as she passed him the whisky.

XxX

The next day, just as Lila had expected, all hell broke loose. Daryl was more angry than he could ever be over his brother and when Shane got him in a choke hold, Lila found herself on the defensive. "Shane let him go," she warned.

"'M jus' protectin' everybody," he said.

"No, let him go. I swear to God, Shane," the tone of her voice caused him to let go right away. Lila went over to offer Daryl her hand but he just stormed off―that was mostly expected too.

"He was going to stab me with that knife," Shane said and Lila shook her head.

"He wouldn't have," she headed back to her side of camp and found Daryl and Ryan both getting stuff ready to go. She started to grab her bow to but Daryl looked up at her, his blue eyes meeting her own.

"Yer stayin' here," he said.

"Since when can you tell me what to do, Dixon?"

"He's right, Lila. You're not going," Ryan stated.

"Bullshit! Why the hell do I have to stay here?" she questioned, glaring at them.

"'Cause I don' need ta watch yer ass too."

Normally, she would've said something about him 'watching her ass' but now wasn't the time. She was too angry. "Fuck off, both of you. I'm going."

"You're staying," Ryan stated. "I'd much rather know that you're safe so we can focus on the task at hand. Finding Merle. I know you're an asset but I don't want to have to worry about you too. Li, for me, stay."

She tensed her jaw and finally nodded. "Be careful, I won't be there to watch your asses," she hugged her brother first before moving to the younger Dixon. He wasn't really comfortable with the whole hugging thing, but he dealt with it for a moment and the two headed over to the truck. Rick was going as well and as it turned out so were Glenn and T-Dog.

Dean found himself watching for the whisky drinking brunette but he didn't find her. _The quarry_. Part of him wanted to go down there, but the other part realised he had work to do.

Down at the quarry, Carl hurriedly ran ahead of Shane and nearly ran right into Lila, who was sitting on the rocks, smoking another cigarette. She figured nobody would come down there―other than the women doing laundry. She had avoided them all, not wanting to have to help. She much preferred helping with hunting or something she found to be more important―because of that, she washed her own clothes most of the time. If she wanted them clean, she didn't need it done for her.

"Sorry," he said, grinning wildly.

"What's got you all cheerful today?" she put out her cigarette and looked at the young boy.

"Shane's gonna help me catch frogs!"

"Oh yeah?"

"We're gonna cook up some frog legs," Shane walked up behind them, standing on the rocks behind them.

Lila stood up and patted her stomach. "They taste like chicken," she grinned.

"Ew," Carl said. "I just want to catch 'em!" He looked at Lila and then had a thought. "Wanna help us?"

"Sure!" she exclaimed, trying to be happy.

"A'right, you ready for lesson one?" Shane asked.

"Yes!"

"You've gotta get in the water with the frogs now," Shane said and Carl sat on the rocks, took off his shoes and rolled up his pant legs. Lila watched as Shane gave instructions. She stood beside him, arms crossed. Shane looked at Carl with the pride that it reminded Lila of how a father would look at his son. She thought it was kind of sweet actually.

"Lila, come in and help me," Carl called from the water.

"Only if Shane does too," she smirked.

"C'mon, Lila, Shane!" Carl said.

"A'right, a'right," Shane said. He and Lila both went into the water and after a few moments, the two were splashing each other playfully. Lila shoved him playfully and he took her hand, pulling her back into the water with him as they both fell. Lila pulled herself above water and Shane just grinned as her hand was on his chest. She stood up and offered him a hand. He took it and they both laughed until Lori came walking up. She gave Shane a look and he apologised before going over to the woman. After a few minutes of arguing, Lori called for Carl and he looked to Lila for help but she patted his shoulder. Lori just glared at her and Lila glared back.

Shane had an angry look on his face and when he saw the commotion across the quarry, he hurried over their angrily. Lila looked over their confused and a second later, Shane's fists were attacking Ed's face. Lila got up on the bank of the quarry and she hurried over to where Shane was. She didn't make him stop, not until he was on the brink of killing the man. She rested her hand on his back and he paused. "He's an ass, but you don't deserve that on your conscience..." Shane nodded slowly and followed Lila back up to camp. "Have a seat," she told him once they got to her side of camp. He sat on the log and she told him that she would be right back before going into her tent and grabbing the first aid kit. She poured peroxide on his knuckles and started to wrapped his hands.

"Ya don' need to do that," he had snapped from the angry man down at the quarry to the Shane she had befriended.

"Yeah I do. You do too much around this camp to have your busted knuckles exposed," she wrapped them anyway, his much larger hands in hers.

"How do ya know how ta do this?"

"When you live in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of hunters, you learn some medical stuff. We were fifty miles from the nearest hospital. Most things we fixed ourselves," she said. "You just better hope he doesn't have an STD or something, we can't check for that here," she grinned. He returned it. She didn't genuinely smile much, but when she did, it was infectious.

"We don' need ta worry 'bout spreadin' nothin' else 'round this camp."

"'Cause you actually think someone other than Lori's gonna sleep with you?" she smirked. His face showed his shock.

"You knew?"

"I think I was the only one that did at the time, if that makes you feel any better. But now, it's not hard to tell. She's been such a bitch to you since Rick returned. It makes it obvious."

"She's pissed at me 'cause I told 'er he was dead. And I swear to ya, he didn't have a heart beat. He was my best friend why the hell woul' I wanna leave 'im behind? I don't―"

"Shane, you don't have to prove anything to me," she said. "The way I see it, you did right by Rick―not so much the screwing his wife―you took care of his family. Without you, they'd be dead," she patted his shoulder and stood. "I'm going to go make sure Carol's doing all right."

XxX

That evening, they sat around the fire eating fish Andrea and Amy had caught. Lila found herself between Shane and Dean, her knees were brought up to her chest and Shane's were pulled up rather high as well. The outside of their legs touched and neither of them bothered moving, simply because Georgia could get rather could outside and they were warm. While Shane spoke to someone else in the group, Dean found himself looking over at Lila. Part of him wondered if the two were a thing, but he was pretty sure they weren't.

"Going back down to the quarry tonight?" he found himself asking quietly.

"You going to give me clues?" she asked, a twinkle of mischief in her eye.

"Maybe."

"Then maybe I'll go down there, maybe I won't."

Dean was so used to just going for it when it came to girls. But he didn't know what to say to Lila. She was different. She was so sure of who she was, it was like she carried the air of confidence around with her and never lost it. Unless it was a front she put up. He hadn't thought of that until that moment. She could be just as messed as he was. The things he'd seen over the years made him wear this mask with his tough outer shell, maybe she was the same way. He couldn't really be sure though unless he saw beyond what everyone else did. He was about to say something else when Amy's scream pulled him from his thoughts and before he knew it, walkers were everywhere. This was not good.

**AN: I hope everyone liked it! I would love to hear what you thought. Your ideas are also welcome, feel free to PM me. **


	3. Chapter 3

Lila's hands shook as she went to light her cigarette. She couldn't do it. She threw her lighter at the rocks and just like a knight in shining armour, Dean appeared, Zippo in hand. He light her cigarette and she took a shaky inhale. "I wonder if they could consider that assisted suicide..." she said, a dark laugh coming from the back of her throat. Everything she had seen that night made her so stressed that she couldn't think about it.

Merle hadn't come back. Amy was dead. Other group members were dead. The only good thing was the few people she really talked to in camp were alive. Daryl and Ryan had returned and that in itself was a blessing. It was too bad her mind was focused on the bad.

"But who am I kidding? None of us would live long enough to die of lung cancer anyway. You know my mum had lung cancer? That was why I used to swear I wouldn't touch a cigarette. She had been a heavy smoker since she was thirteen―grew up in the rough part of New York city and she died when she was thirty-seven. I was ten―she was actually diagnosed soon after I was born, said she's be dead within a year.

"She was lucky to live that long, she didn't even die of lung cancer. I just found her dead. Nobody knew what it was. Maybe the medicine was fucking with her head. A couple times that week, she kept swearing that she would hear dogs...my dad told her she was nuts and went to the bar...Ryan was already in the army at that time and there I was, left with my mother."

What she had just told Dean sat heavy with him. He knew that she wasn't as confident and strong as she seemed, just from those statements. Instead of saying anything, his arm wrapped around her and she didn't even flinch. She just took another shaky inhale and butted out the cigarette. She pulled out her silver flask and passed it to him.

Then something hit Dean. Not literally, but he had a realisation that shocked him. Her mother was dying...she lived for ten years and then she heard dogs before she died. It sounded like one thing and one thing only to Dean. A crossroads demon.

"That woman loved me though. She was probably the best mum anyone could ask for. She tried so damn hard to talk Ryan out of enlisting, but he wouldn't listen. He's always been more stubborn than a mule. She taught me how to make the best pie in the world." This also caught Dean's attention. Pie. If he could have any meal in the world, he would have thick, juicy cheeseburger with extra onions, followed by the perfect apple pie and all washed down with a nice cold beer. Lila caught the look on his face when she said pie and smiled a little. "If I ever get the chance, I'll make it for you. I take it you're a fellow worshipper?"

He couldn't have put it better himself. "Mm hmm," he proceeded to explain to her his ideal meal of burgers, pie, and beer and then grinned. "If I could eat that one last time, I could die happy." She broke out of her sadness and smiled too.

"How 'bout some whisky for now?"

" That'll help," he took a swig from her flask and they continued to sit together for a long time.

"I don't want to go back to camp," she confessed. "Not ever. All that death...it makes me uncomfortable."

"You're preachin' to the choir." Dean had seen more death than he would ever admit. He then realised that it was only right if he shared something too. "I lost my mum when I was young. I was four, actually. House fire...From what I remember of her, she was great. She loved Sammy and I so much. And my dad, man, he was never the same after she died. He's gone now too, saved my life in the process," Dean didn't mean to say the last part, it just kind of slipped out.

"Mine too. But he didn't die a hero," she said. She didn't want to continue about her dad either so they just sat in silence, both of them realising just how much the other kept inside.

XxX

Everyone was working on getting the mess from last night cleaned up. Shane was helping and he did a quick sweep around camp to make sure everyone was alright and he noticed Lila was nowhere to be found, which was strange. He knew she was alive―she had saved his ass last night―but now she was nowhere to be found. He noticed brown hair coming out of the back of his jeep and had an idea of who it could be. "Hey y'all, I'm gonna drive down and get us some water," Shane called. He hopped in the front of his jeep and looked over his shoulder to see the dark haired girl sleeping. Deciding to give her a heads up that he was going to start moving, he touched her shoulder and her hands wrapped around his, holding it to her chest. Normally, he would have liked touching her chest, but he felt like it wasn't really right.

With his other hand, he pushed her hair back with the other hand. He rubbed her forehead gently and she then opened her eyes. She didn't move her hands for a moment, her blue eyes met his brown ones and then she looked down at her hands. "Like what you feel?" she asked, flirty smile on her face. With that, he let a little grin show on his face. Her hands released his and she sat up, climbing into the front seat. "We going somewhere then?"

"To get water," he said. "You hiding from helpin'?" he asked.

"No. I just couldn't sleep last night...And I um...I'm not great with death," she said.

"Nobody is," he said. "It's alright," he patted her knee.

"I also figured nobody would notice...and I knew you wouldn't care if I slept in your jeep."

"I noticed," he stated. "I didn' care if ya slept in 'ere though."

They did the water run, and on the way back, Shane looked over at her. "Rick wants us to go to the CDC, but Fort Benning is the better bet―if you ask me."

"My opinion doesn't matter to the group."

"It matters to Ryan and Daryl. The Winchesters. Me."

"Well that's sure a short list," she grinned.

Shane had a thought and he pulled the car over for a second. He turned to look at her, his hand took to the side of her face and moved closer to her. He paused and she bit her lip, debating on whether or not to kiss him. She backed away and he licked his lips, doing the same.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I just, I...it's a bad idea for me." He cleared his throat and nodded, he started to put the car in gear again but she noticed the puppy dog sad eyes. She grabbed the sides of his face and kissed him. He kissed back without hesitation. His hands held her hair. She gave a nervous laugh as they released each other. She didn't even know why she wanted to kiss him, maybe because she knew it wouldn't work. He wasn't the guy she could tell her secrets to. He was just a guy. But in the apocalypse, everyone needed someone to distract them. Shane could certainly be her distraction.

"What's a bad idea?" he asked with a grin.

"A relationship. I'm more of a friends with benefits type..."  
>"I think I could make due," he said.<p>

"That means no hand holding or any of that prissy shit."

"A'right, Darlin'," he agreed.

XxX

The group kept discussing where they should go, eventually, they chose the CDC. "You ridin' with me?" Shane asked Lila lowly, leaning close to her as they dispersed. Sure he was annoyed that they weren't going to Fort Benning, but he figured she would be a good distraction.

"I don't know if that's a good idea," she said. "My brother and Daryl aren't your biggest fans." Ryan tried to be civil, but he thought Shane was too hotheaded to be their leader.

"A'right," he nodded. "I see, choosin' family over me," he joked.

"Every time," she grinned back, pushing his shoulder gently. "But," she added in realisation. "The truck is a pain in the ass for us all to ride in...I'm sure I could swing something," he smirked and wanted so bad to kiss her again, but they were in front of everyone. "I'm gonna go get packed and tell Ryan."

"Okay, Darlin'."

Lila made her way to her tent and started to go in, but Ryan emerged first, dropping her things outside with her duffel. "Hey Ryan," she said as he started taking down the tent. She began tossing items into her bag.

"I take it you're not riding with Daryl and I?" he rose an eyebrow, his dark blue eyes mirroring her own.

"Uh no. I was going to ride with Shane. He's all by himself for the trip and the truck's cramped―plus you two smell and I don't wanna sit in the middle."

"And," Ryan began adding. "You want to ride with your fuck buddy."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"C'mon, it's obvious―to me anyway. You disappear every night and when you come back in the morning, you're all smiley and shit. Lately, you've been in a much less bitchy mood too."

"You're full of shit," she said. "Shane takes watch most nights. I'll sit up there sometimes but we aren't sleeping together." Yet.

"Bullshit. I'll see ya in Atlanta," he started to walk away and then Ryan turned back. "When he breaks your heart, don't say I didn't warn you. But I get it, you're my pain in the ass sister who thinks she has to rebel against me when I'm only trying to do her some good."

"Whatever, Ryan, it's not even like that," she picked up her bag and stormed off towards the vehicles. She walked passed the gorgeous Chevy Impala and was almost temped to ride with whoever drove that just because it was amazing. The black paint looked like new―there was some dirt on it from being parked in the dirt―but the car had to be like fifty years old, but it looked damn new to her.

"Careful," she jumped, not realising she had been staring for a moment. "If Dean catches you watching his 'baby' too long, he might get the wrong idea," she caught Sam's playful smile and returned it. "There are a few things of Dean's you don't mess with and this car's one of them."

"Don't forget burgers and pie."

Sam was slightly surprised that she knew that, Dean had been sneaking off a bit lately, maybe he was talking to her. She wasn't Dean's normal type. She was definitely the hard to get type and that wasn't Dean's style. He didn't mind working for it, but it seemed like Dean would see her as too much work. Plus, she had an older brother and another guy near her most of the time who would kick Dean's ass if he hurt the girl.

"You ready, Sammy?" Dean's voice came from behind Sam and he caught Lila's eye, grinning.

"You like what you see?" he smirked a little more.

"Mm. Real beauty, this one. What year sixty...?"  
>"Seven. Sixty-seven. You know a lot about cars."<p>

"Not much, just enough to get by," she shrugged. "I'll see you guys there." She tossed her bag in the back of Shane's jeep―where she had fallen asleep earlier―and then climbed in the passenger seat.


	4. Chapter 4

"Her mum was killed by a crossroads demon, y'know," Dean told Sam.

"Whose was?"

"Lila's. I think she has the right to know."

"Dean..."

"Look, Sammy. We haven't be able to do what we used to because they all freaking disappeared! No vamps, no demons, no angels―no Cas! He's nowhere to be found―and I've sure tried enough."

"Dean, just because you want to sleep with some girl doesn't mean that you get to tell her the secrets of the universe. Besides, she'd probably think you're nuts and tell the rest of the group how crazy you are and then get us kicked out."

"She wouldn't do that."

"Why? You think she sees you as anything more than just another one of the survivors?"

"We talk, Sam. Really talk. She has told me lots of secrets."

"So? That doesn't mean you let the big one go."

XxX

Once they were at the large CDC, Lila grabbed her bow along with her duffel and followed everyone towards the entrance. She and Shane walked side all the way to the door and everyone stopped when they saw the doors were covered with metal and shut. Lila looked from Rick to Shane and saw that the latter was about to be a very angry camper. She grabbed his wrist and gave him an imploring look so that he didn't explode. And he didn't, he gave her a subtle nod and tried to get Rick to leave, but the crazy ex-deputy wasn't budging. He swore the camera moved and nobody else saw it. Lila hung back with the Daryl, her brother, and the Winchesters as everyone tried to get their shit together. After a few minutes of arguing, the doors actually opened. A nearly blinding light caught everyone off guard and emerged a blonde haired man.

"These doors won't open again," he said. He introduced himself as Dr. Edwin Jenner and Rick introduced himself as well. "And you all submit to a blood test. That's my condition."

"Done," Rick spoke for them.

They followed the man into the elevator and squeezed in there. Shane reached down and took Lila's hand. She looked over at him and he nudged his shoulder to hers. She squeezed his hand in response and they road the elevator.

"Doctors always go around packin' heat like that?" Daryl asked.

"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarised myself. But I don't think I'll need to worry about it with all of you...Except maybe you," he said, ruffling Carl's hair.

Daryl caught Lila's eye before he looked down at her and Shane's joined hands. He just rolled his eyes at her and turned back around. Shane didn't notice this but it made Lila feel guilt in the pit of her stomach. She wanted to release Shane's hand and hurry out of the elevator.

They took their blood tests before going in and having dinner. Pasta. They all had a few laughs and eventually, they went to take showers―which had hot water―and choose bedrooms. Lila put her stuff in her brother's room and then went to Shane's. He kissed her with much more passion than he had in the jeep the day before. He led the way to the bathroom where the shower was and she couldn't help but grin.

"God, how I've missed showers," she sighed in happiness.

"Mm. Ya want some company?" she bit her lip, nodding.

XxX

Dean walked into the dining area and found Lila with her head in her hands, her dark hair going everywhere. Beside her, there was half a bottle of whisky and he wordlessly took a seat beside her on the table. He picked up the bottle and took a swig. She looked up at him, his green eyes meeting her blue ones. "You okay?"

"Everyone always fucking asks me that," she stated with an annoyed sigh. "And you know what? I'm not. This world isn't an easy place to live. You get stuck in the every day bullshit of worrying about other people surviving. All I wanted was a good distraction, something to take my mind away from the dead walking around...but it didn't work. I slept with some guy I barely know―sure he's sweet and all, but I don't do relationships because I suck at them and then I just end up feeling like a whore and..." she realised she was kind of rambling but she felt strong arms around her and she buried her face in Dean's chest. She hated feeling so weak. "I'm sorry, I always dump all of this shit on you..."

"Was the sex at least good?" he asked, making her smile a little.

"Probably could've been better. We were both drunk..."

"Well, I've got an idea," he said. "How you can repay me for all of this," he said. "Just promise me you won't think I'm nuts." He realised that it kind of sounded bad at first. "There are things about this world that nobody understands...I need you to promise you won't tell me I'm some nut job that should be locked up somewhere."

"Dean, in case you haven't noticed, there's no place to be locked up," she stated. "Besides, if anybody's a basket case, it's me. I can't get my shit together. So go ahead, I'm sure I won't think you're crazy."

"Angels, demons, vampires, werewolves, and ghouls, they're all real. Along with a bunch of other supernatural beings nobody's ever heard of."

"What? Wait, where's the straight jacket?" she grinned at him just a little.

"I'm serious. When your mum died, it was a demon that killed her―well because of a demon."

"Like from hell? You're telling me that there's a God?" she questioned, not even reacting to the fact that it was a demon who took her mum. "I guess I'm going to hell. I've never believed in a higher power type shit."

"In your defence, God hasn't been running things up there for a long time."

"And Satan? The devil or what ever?"

"Actually the king of hell is a pain in the ass named Crowley."

"So how do you know a demon killed my mum?"

"From what you told me, she was supposed to die anyway...there are what we call 'crossroads demons' who accept souls as payment for anything they want and then ten years later a hellhound comes to collect on the debt."

"That explains the dog..." Dean was incredibly surprised. She didn't only accept what he told her, she had next to no reaction. To top it off, her next statement shocked him. "Let me go check on the pie."

"Pie?" Dean looked up at her and she smiled a little more.

"Follow me," she stood up and walked into the kitchen. The oven was on and she opened it, grabbing an oven mitt, she pulled it out, setting it on the stove. "It just has to cool."

"What kind is it?"

"Apple, it would've been better if the apples were fresh, but there was just canned. I hope it still turns out okay."

"It's pie! It'll be freaking perfect."

"I kinda feel bad for using up so much of the stuff, but I feel like there's more than we'll ever use here...and besides. How long could we even be here?"

"You think we won't stay?" Dean asked.

"C'mon now. Nowhere is safe anymore. We need to keep moving..."

"You're probably right," he admitted.

"I promised you anyway..."

"You did," he smiled.

They sat talking, Dean telling her more about the supernatural world, until the pie was cool. She turned to grab a knife but he already had a fork and took a large bite of the pie.

"Oh my God," he let out a slight moan of pleasure from the pie alone.

"Is it okay?"

"Okay? This is the best freaking pie I've ever tasted!" he ate another big piece and set his fork in the pan. Deciding to just go with it, she took a bite using his fork.

"I haven't had something sweet in so long..." she stated. Before they knew it, half the pie was gone. "There won't be enough for everyone else...We need to finish it and get rid of the evidence."

"No problem," Dean grinned. He was in love with this pie.

"I'll make it up to them though...make some muffins or something in the morning."

"Good plan."

**AN: Hey guys, I would greatly appreciate some feedback! No flames, but if you have ideas on how I can improve the story, please let me know! Thanks!**

**~Michelle~**


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning at breakfast, everyone nursed their hang overs. Dean, however, was perfect. Lila's headache was dull and barely there as she shovelled down the eggs, they weren't real eggs from a chicken butt, but they were still good. After breakfast, she wordlessly took her plate to the sink and she heard footsteps behind her. She turned to see Shane bringing his plate in as well. "Hey," she said quietly.

"Hi Darlin'," he said. She turned on the warm water and looked up at Shane gently. He gave her a half smile and she returned it. He wanted to feel her lips against his again, but she spoke before he could do anything.

"How's about we go take a shower?" she asked. She told herself that this would strictly be a friends with benefits type deal. She didn't want to get attached to him any more than she was to anybody else in the group.

"I like the way you think," he grinned and the two left the kitchen and slyly headed back to where the bedrooms were. They went into the one that he had claimed and headed into the bathroom. He kissed her and she kissed back, a moment later, she looked at him with her blue eyes and bit her lip.

"I told you this is just sex, right? We can be friends, but anything else is more than I can handle."

"You did," he said.

"I just wanted to make that clear because after this, it's not just a―" He kissed her again and she forgot what she was even saying. He got the point though. In the old world, he would have loved this idea. A beautiful girl who just wanted sex, no emotional shit to get in the way, but Shane felt kind of alone in this new society. He didn't have anybody else―at first Carl and Lori had been his to watch over, and that kept it together for him, but now, there wasn't anything else. But, he would take what he could get.

XxX

"I'm gonna go check in with my brother, I haven't talked to him since last night," Lila said, giving Shane a quick kiss before leaving the room. He wasn't fully dressed yet, but she was―she had gotten dressed in just a few seconds and left quickly. He didn't even have time to tell her 'okay'.

Once in the hallway, she saw Daryl, and she knew that he had seen her leaving Shane's room and she had an 'oh shit' look on her face. She knew how Daryl felt about Shane and part of her did feel that it was disrespectful to be sleeping with her best friend's enemy, but it was also her life.

"Daryl," he scowled at her and turned away. "You don't have the right to be pissed at me over this."

"That dude's an asshole, th'hell 're ya thinkin'?"

"I'm thinking, it's the Goddamn apocalypse and I want to feel something other than fear or anger."

"Don' come cryin' to me when he hurts ya," Daryl scoffed and walked off. There was only one break up that he helped her deal with.

_Merle and Ryan were off doing whatever they did and it was only Daryl and Lila at the cabin they had set back in the woods. The closest thing was a bar two miles down the road. It was about five in the afternoon and Lila was bored. She didn't like just sitting around but it was in the middle of the worst Winter Georgia had ever had―which they didn't have much of a Winter, especially in their area, but there was actually ice on the ground. They were both stuck inside and she was trying to hold out until seven so she could meet her boyfriend, Brady. _

_"__Can we just go? I'm so bored, Daryl," she complained. He was making arrows and let out a sigh. He and Lila had started to become closer. They always hunted together and though Ryan had seemed like the perfect big brother, he and Merle were similar in many ways, leaving the two younger siblings together a lot. _

_"__Fine," he grunted. He already had his boots on, he pulled on his jacket and she did the same. She took the keys off the counter and led the way out to the truck, she almost fell on the ice, but caught herself instead. She then hopped in the cab of the truck and he followed suit. She started up the engine and shivered when the icy cool wind blew through the vents. She turned them off right away and still shivered as she backed it up and started down the snow and ice covered road. Luckily, nobody was coming on the other side, so she slid a bit over the road but maintained control until they got the the bar. _

_"__Here, I'll probably end up just having Brady take me home or something anyway," she held out the keys to him and he took them. The two entered the bar and immediately, her eyes began scanning for the dark hair of Brady. She had expected not to see him, but, she met his blue eyes with her own as soon as his lips removed themselves from some blonde skank. "You son of a bitch," she moved to him swiftly and threw her fist into his nose, she heard a crack and didn't stay to watch the blood trickle down his face. _

_"__Hey," the blonde bitch stood up and Lila swung first―not needing to ask questions―the blonde ended up with a hit to match Brady's, except, she fell to the ground, out cold. _

_"__Lila," Brady started to go after her but she stormed out the door. _

_"__Fuck off," she said. She forgot about all of the ice and when she stepped outside, her feet slid from under her and she landed hard on her back. One moment, she saw Brady nearing her, the next, he was gone. Once she regained herself, she sat up, turned, and saw Daryl punching the hell out of Brady's face before standing, looking at her, and heading to the truck. She pulled herself to her feet and followed his lead. _

_"__Promised yer brother I'd kick his ass if he couldn't," Daryl stated, referring to Brady. _

XxX

"Come, we gotta go," Ryan told his sister as she sat in the Rec Room, alone.

"What do you mean?"

"The place is gonna explode, get your ass up and let's go," she grabbed the book she had, _To Kill a Mockingbird_, and followed her brother. They grabbed their bags and ran out to where the rest of the group was. They were trying to break down the door to get out of the laboratory.

"What's going on?" Lila asked Dean―Ryan had run off to try to get out.

"This bastard won't let us out of the building―which is about to blow up," Dean explained.

"What?" she was still confused.

"When the CDC runs out of power, to limit contamination of whatever diseases are in here, the building with explode by lighting the air on fire," Sam said.

"Holy shit," Lila stated. "I―" Sam caught her arm before she could go near where everyone else was attacking the door.

"You're not going to be able to do anything they aren't, that's why we're staying back," he said, his hazel eyes imploring for her not to get hurt. Sam knew that Dean had told Lila about the existence of the supernatural last night and the way she reacted made him think that she is someone that needs to stay safe. She was one of the rare few that could handle all of it and he didn't want her to go anywhere.

"Let go," she said. He did and she went on her way. Dean looked over to his younger brother.

"Stubborn that one is," the shorter of the brothers stated.

"Dean, do you think she was the one Cas was talking about?"  
>They hadn't seen Cas since the beginning of all of this, but he said in order to end it, they would meet a very special girl who would have the ability to understand everything.<p>

"Cas wasn't in his right mind when he said that. Besides, where the hell is he now?"

"I don't know Dean, but she's stubborn as hell."

"That doesn't mean anything."

Cas never just spoke in plain English, his words sometimes sounded to the boys as riddles. He had told them that to end the apocalypse, there must be blood of pure intent from a young woman who has the will of a mule―the figured out that had meant stubborn, the bravery of a lion, the beauty of the first spring flower, and the...Cas didn't finish the last line before disappearing.

"It could. She's beautiful, right?"

"Yeah."

"Brave?"

"So? Sammy, we still don't know what he meant by 'blood of pure intent'. And besides, we need to look into it more."

"We could if we were at the bunker."

"If you haven't noticed, we're freaking locked in the CDC right now, about to explode."

"When we get out of here, Dean, we'll have to work on figuring this out."

"How, Sammy? We don't have the bunker, we don't have anybody full of knowledge any more." They both knew it was true, but they also knew that they needed to figure out what Castiel meant so that they could end the apocalypse.


	6. Chapter 6

"Darlin', look at me," Shane said to Lila as her dark blue eyes were closed, his hands were on each side of her cheeks. "C'mon, you're okay," he promised her.

To Lila, everything was a blur. It was like she had blacked out for the last couple minutes because she remembered nothing. "Sh―Shane," she said, looking up at him. "What happened?"

"You really don't remember?"  
>"No...I remember standing in the CDC and then nothing...then I woke up here."<p>

"We got out, Darlin'. Jenner opened the door right before it exploded and look," he pointed over to the building and she turned her head before gasping. "But we're okay, that's all that matters." He then followed the lead of the other cars and started his engine, taking his hands from her face. His hands were on the wheel and she reached over and took one in hers, entwining their fingers. He looked over at her, giving her an easy smile before continuing.

"Did everyone make it out? Where's my brother? Daryl?"

"They're fine, Jacqui stayed behind, but that's it, everyone's okay," he kissed the back of her hand. She squeezed his hand tighter and let out a sigh of relief. The black Impala drove in front of them and she didn't need to ask about the Winchesters.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"For what?"

"For being so...so helpless. I'm not your problem. You didn't have to do anything for me, you know that, right?"  
>"I wanted to, Lila. Really, you ain't somebody I'd like to see dead. Besides, it wasn't like ya were dead weight, you were alert, just...zoned out...I guess."<p>

"Oh...And my brother just let me go with you?"

"Yeah, told 'im there wasn't gonna be room in the truck an' ya coul' ride in the Jeep," he shrugged. Lila nodded and as they drove down the room, she kept his hand, seeking any form of safety. The RV at the front of the caravan honked and everyone pulled over to a small clearing. They had finally made it out of the city and it was a bit safer now than before. Everyone got out of their cars and Rick stepped out of the RV.

"Okay, I think it would be wise to cut back on the number of the cars we have. We need to keep the most practical, most reliable vehicles. We'll syphon the fuel from the rest."  
>"Well, time to say bye to the Jeep," Shane said only loud enough for Lila to hear, her fingers stayed entwined with his and she didn't move. "Lila, ya a'right?" she looked up a moment later and nodded slowly. He gave her a doubtful look before letting it go. "C'mon, let's get everything outta the Jeep."<p>

Ryan didn't fail to notice his sister holding hands with the ex-cop. He was not a fan. Shane didn't seem like a bad guy, not really, just someone who wanted to keep the group safe. However, he was an ex-cop and Daryl got a bad feeling from the man. Part of Ryan wondered if Daryl only felt the way he did for selfish reasons. He knew that the younger Dixon had spent a whole lot of time with Lila but he had no idea what they did in that time. The two were close, he just wasn't sure how close. He decided that maybe he should check on his sister. He walked over to the black Jeep where she stood with the dark haired man, he actually heard her let out a giggle before he got there, however, she stopped when she saw him approaching. "Feeling better?" he asked, his eyes darting between his sister and Shane. She nodded.

"Yeah, much. I must've been a bit dazed," she stated with a shrug.

"Mm," he gave Shane a look. Even though they all realised Lila was old enough to make her own decisions, the look Ryan gave Shane made the latter fear any and all of his next actions. "Daryl's driving Merle's bike. I'm sure if you asked, he'd give you a ride."

"Is he really?" she had always loved that motorcycle.

"Yep."

"Wait, where are you riding?"  
>"Haven't decided yet."<p>

"You could ride bitch," she smirked, referring to the back of the bike and he gave her an annoyed glare. "Oh come on, Ry. Where else are you going to ride?"

"Probably gonna see if I can hitch a ride in the Impala. They seem like okay guys," Ryan said. "I'll see ya next time we stop," he stated before leaving.

"Darlin' there ain't too many people that can scare me, but I swear, your brother's the scariest man I've ever seen."

"Aw, is my big brother gonna scare you off?" she gave a pout and he smiled at her.

"How can he scare me off? We're just friends, right?" he smirked and she picked up his hand that was attached to hers.

"Yeah."

"That's still what ya want?" he raised an eyebrow and leaned close to her, his lips nearly touching hers.

"I don't want either of us to get hurt..."

"It could happen if we're just friends."

"Why do you want this so bad? I'm not good news. I suck at this stuff."

"So do I, we'll figure it out together."

"You didn't answer my question."

"I like ya and we could all use somebody right now," he was centimetres from kissing her.

"Okay," she said.

"Okay," he agreed, finally kissing her. His arms snaked around her waist and slid down to cup her ass. A moment later, she pulled back, his hands stayed in place.

"Anybody could see, plus it's not the safest place," she said. "I'm gonna catch a ride with Daryl."  
>"Okay, Darlin'."<p>

Lila walked over to where Daryl had parked the bike and was standing. "Daryl," she said, trying to sound sweet. He sent her a glare. "Can I have a ride?"  
>"No."<p>

"How about if I give you a cigarette?" she questioned and this sparked his interest.

"Two."

"One and then I share another one with you," she countered and he finally nodded. She grinned and pulled two out of the pack in her bag, handing him one.

"How many ya got?"

"Enough." He lit is cigarette first and then hers. They both took a long inhale and then blew out the smoke. "You still pissed at me?"

"No. Ya can do what ya want," he shrugged. "An' yer gonna do whatever ya want anyway 'cause yer stubbon."

"You have a point there. But it won't change how close I am with you or Ryan. You're my brother, just like he is. The two of you are my family."

"We're headin' out in a minute, everyone," Rick called.

"Go put yer bag somewhere an' we'll get goin'," Daryl said and she nodded, ready to move on, far away from the city.

**AN: So this is the end of this story...I have started a sequel called "Will to Survive" and that's when it'll start to be a Dean/OC. I've got a lot planned...I would like to know if anyone is actually reading this though...Could I pretty please have some reviews? :)**


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